LAXART has a new name and a new home. The Brick is now located at 518 N. Western Avenue, and will soon hold its Grand Opening. The 5,000 square foot gallery will continues as an altenative arts space free and open to the public.
The Brick Grand Opening
Art historian and curator Lauri Firstenberg founded LAXART in 2005 as a nonprofit visual art space. It has become a platform for emerging and under-recognized talent in Los Angeles under the directorship of Hamza Walker, who took the helm of the organization in 2016, The Brick has expanded its mission to encompass thematic exhibitions that engage with a range of local and international artists at every stage of their careers.
The new name “The Brick” was derived from the building’s most prominent feature, its exposed red brick. Dedicated to understanding key issues of our time through contemporary art, the mission remains the same. The Brick’s mission betrays a belief that contemporary art is a means of understanding key issues of our time with all their inherent contradictions. Contemporary art assumes many forms. Rather than provide answers, it raises questions. Through a range of offerings, The Brick contextualizes contemporary art both socially and discursively.
The Brick Performances
The Brick hosted its official Grand Opening across two evenings: June 16, and 17. Both evenings featured the prominent saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell in two different settings. There was also a community party on June 23 to coincide with the Sekula/Stein Garage Sale, a week-long sale of artist Allan Sekula and art historian Sally Stein’s home library sprinkled with personal effects. All events are free and open to the public.
Roscoe Mitchell; courtesy of the artist
The Brick’s inaugural exhibition will be a solo show of new work by artist/writer/activist Gregg Bordowitz opening in July, (TBA) followed in September by the group show Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism, organized by deputy director and curator Catherine Taft as part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide. The Brick opens with an exterior facade that will feature a mural memorializing the late artist Pope.L by LA-based muralists 3B collective.
Executive Director Hamza Walker explains, “Our new home and new name speak to the evolution and growth of the organization. Purchasing our building secures our future, and is in turn a commitment to the cultural communities of Los Angeles. Of the name’s many associations, the idea of a building block that is part of a larger whole is paramount.”
Building Design
Constructed in 1952, 518 N. Western has had several lives. Before becoming a gallery, it was a furniture showroom, one of many to dot the stretch of Western Avenue just north of Koreatown. The one story, 5,000 square foot building underwent an extensive structural upgrade and renovation which was overseen by board member John Frane of HGA Architects. The floor plan is completely open and the building’s structural element — concrete floors, brick walls, wood ceiling, and tapered steel trusses — are exposed.
It has 4,000 square feet of exhibition space, nearly double that of LAXART’s previous Santa Monica Boulevard location. It also features a 1,000 square foot, outdoor courtyard that is an extension of the gallery. Visitors will have full access to this space through patio doors lining the gallery’s back wall.
New Name, New Logo
Alongside this new location, The Brick also unveils a new logo and visual identity designed by Perron-Roettinger. The new logo prominently features elegant, fluid script lettering with contemporary typographic features. Legible across both small and large scales, the new branding speaks to The Brick’s mission to be distinctive, while indicating an ethos that’s forward-thinking, embraces connection, and synthesizes different points of view. The Brick, 518 N. Western Ave., LA, 90004; https://the-brick.org/
CLICK HERE for additional upcoming art exhibitions, and performances as well as culinary events.
